Riki
Riki (りき Riki) is the the second most recurring character in Kunio-kun franchise. Riki is a 3rd year student and the banchō (delinquent leader)Banchō of Hanazono High School. He is Kunio's rival and best friend, and like him he takes the role of helper in various sport clubs at his school, which grants him praise from his peers and juniors at the school. He is known as "Mach Punch Riki", and just like Kunio, is a righteous delinquent who fights for justice. However, when his anger reaches the boiling point, he snaps and goes berserk. His first appearance in the franchise is in Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun as the first stage boss. In Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, Riki and Kunio join forces for the first time and become best friends. In his subsequent appearances in the franchise he would face Kunio in different sport competitions (Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai and Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal) or become his ally (Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun and Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka). Before becoming the banchō of Hanazono High School, Riki was the ace of his school's soccer club. The biker gang Mushamonzen attacked members of the club, and Riki built his legend as "Mach Punch Riki" by destroying the biker gang in revenge and taking the position of banchō from Sakata. However, this came at the cost that he was not only removed from his school's soccer club, but he was forced to repeat his senior year. Soon after, he had his first encounter with Kunio and was defeated. In the Downtown Nekketsu series his full name is Samejima Riki (鮫島力, さめじま りき Samejima Riki). Appearances Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Riki serves as the boss of the first round of the game. He is known as "Mach Punch Riki" because he's one of the fastest punchers in Japan (and in the game). In this game, he is named 雲雀力, Hibari Riki (ひばり りき, Hibari Riki). After this game, he was simply known as Riki until the release of Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari, where he is named Samejima Riki. In Renegade, Riki is changed into a character named Jack. The character bears a resemblance to Luther from the seventies film The Warriors. Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu Riki serves as the team captain of the Hanazono High School Dodgeball Team. His team serves as the first opponent for Nekketsu High school, lead by Kunio, in the World Tour mode. In the arcade version of Super Dodge Ball, Riki is replaced by an unnamed captain representing a dodge ball team in Chicago. In the NES version, the team is changed to the Pro All-Stars and Riki is renamed Jack (the same name he was given in Renegade). According to Kishimoto[https://www.kuniokun.jp/special/special/question.html#q34 Kishimoto answers questions for fans during the development of Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special], Riki formed a dodge ball club in Hanazono High School the instant he heard that Kunio had joined such a club. Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari When Ryūichi and Ryūji Hattori start taking over local high schools, Riki initially has no interest in the matter. But one day, his girlfriend Mami is kidnapped and he receives a letter from Reihou Academy. Enraged, he prepares to storm Reihou Academy and rescue his girlfriend, but he has an unexpected encounter with Kunio just as he leaves the high school. Kunio, having heard Riki is off to the Academy, offers to accompany him. Riki just tells him to do whatever he wants. Riki and Kunio manage to fight their way across the city to Reihou Academy, defeating the students of the many high schools under Reihou's control that try to stop them. They defeat Ryūichi and Ryūji and successfully save Mami. However, it's revealed that the true mastermind behind the whole thing is Kunio's former schoolmate, Yamada. Riki and Kunio manage to defeat Yamada and break Reihou Academy's hold over the other schools. Kunio and Riki are identical in gameplay in this game, they are only distinguishable by their appearances. This was done to make the game similar to Double Dragon. Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai Riki has highest punch stat of all characters and the second highest Stamina (250) in the game (likely to reference the fact that he is the oldest character in age in the game). However, of the four captains in the game, Riki is the slowest. He uses his trademark technique, the Mach Punch, in Battle Royal. Of the Mach techniques, this one has the most frames, making it the slowest of the techniques. Riki is best used in the Obstacle Course and has no equal in the Ball Breaking game. He is obviously the team's first choice for Battle Royal. Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen Hanazono Town is being threatened by the recent arrival of Munataka Industries. The chairman's only son, Yūji Munataka has taken control of various schools and has been terrorizing the neighboring areas, including the local high school. As the school's banchō, Riki has had enough. When Hiroshi is beaten up by Yūji's men, Kunio decides to put a stop to Yūji, thus Kunio and Riki join forces once again. They proceed through the town and reach the top floor of the industries, beat Yūji in a fight and then drag him to the hospital to apologize to Hiroshi. Gameplay-wise, Riki plays identically to Kunio. He can only be used by the second player. Downtown Special: Kunio-kun no Jidaigeki da yo Zen'in Shūgō! Riki makes an appearance in the period play as Rikigorō. To recruit Rikigorō, players first need to encounter and defeat Yonosuke. Following that, they need to be playing a single player game (if two players are playing together, they simply need to revert the game to single player mode during their playthrough) and the CPU controlled ally must be knocked. Rikigorō will then come to aid of the player and remain in their group at Bunzō's. Rikigorō has a high punch stat and has access to the Mach Punch technique. Ike Ike! Nekketsu Hockey Bu: Subette Koronde Dairantō Riki is the captain of the school's American Football Club, and agrees to a hockey game against Kunio to help the Nekketsu team train for their game against Shirogane High School. Riki's team has a series of powerful attacks, including headbutts, backdrops and kicks. All members in this team use his trademark Super Shot, the Upper Shot. Riki's team is playable in the game's Battle Mode. Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal In the Famicom version of the game, the Hanazono High School team is the lowest ranked team. They struggle in events that require speed, especially 400m Hurdles, and the team's defense is below average. The Game Boy version of the game made balance changes to the team. Riki has a new signature move in the game used in the Dojo event: the Gorgeous Punch. In Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge, Riki's face is used on Raphael's character and he is renamed Crusher, the vice-captain of Team Thornley. He makes an appearance along with Rocky in the game's ending. In River City: Tokyo Rumble, Raphael is named Crush. Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun In the two player mode of the game, Kunio runs into Riki in Umeda when Nekketsu High School takes a class trip to Osaka. As it turns out, Hanazona High School also took a class trip to Osaka, and they were staying in the same hotel, which allows Kunio and Riki to work together. Riki only appears in the game's two player mode, just like in Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen. He is completely absent in the plot in the single player mode. Nekketsu Kakutō Densetsu Kunio-kun no Dodgeball da yo Zen'in Shūgō Nekketsu! Street Basket: Ganbare Dunk Heroes Downtown Nekketsu Baseball Monogatari: Yakyū de Shōbu da! Kunio-kun Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka Kunio no Oden Nekketsu! Beach Volley dayo: Kunio-kun Super Dodge Ball Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari EX A remake of the original Famicom game, expanding on the already established story. In this game, the player can choose to start the game as Riki alone or to have Kunio accompany them. It is also possible to play as Kunio with Riki as his ally. When playing as Kunio, Riki will have his own stats instead of starting with base stats. Regardless, he will always have the Mach Punch from the start, calling back to his first appearance as "Mach Punch Riki". Choosing to play as Riki on his own allows him to recruit Maeda. If the player is playing as Kunio, Riki will be waiting for him right outside of Kobayashi Industries, regardless of if Kobayashi himself was defeated. Depending on Kunio's reputation, Riki will challenge Kunio to a fight for old time's sake (the two are not friends yet) or Riki will try to avenge his previous defeats against Kunio. If Riki wants to fight Kunio on friendly terms, the player is free to not fight him. If the player chooses to play as Kunio, Riki cannot be recruited. Super Dodgeball Brawlers River City Super Sports Challenge Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special is a remake of the arcade and Famicom original and acts as a franchise reboot, retelling Kunio's first encounter with Riki. Yuuya and Toshio approach Wataru for help against Kunio. Wataru makes the mistake of going straight to Nekketsu High School to challenge Kunio and when Madoka gets in his way, he strikes her down. This enrages Kunio, who gives chase to Wataru and the Hanazono delinquents. Wataru runs to Riki, who attempts to stop Kunio and is defeated. The two part on friendly terms. At one point, Kunio and Hiroshi are harassed by rogue Hanazono delinquents. Kunio allows them to beat the crap out of him until they are out of the station, at which point Riki appears. Having grown to respect Kunio, Riki decides to allow him and Hiroshi to leave, while he beats the crap of the Hanazono delinquents by himself. Riki Densetsu A prequel to Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special that shows how Riki, an ace of his school's soccer club, became the legendary "Mach Punch Riki". Riki witnesses a biker gang fighting members of his soccer club. Enraged, Riki fights back and knocks them out, but this is seen by the police and he is taken into custody and returned to his school. River City: Tokyo Rumble After Wataru and Sakata attack Hiroshi, Kunio gives chase and proceeds to beat the crap out of them. Sakata swears that Riki gave the order to give Hiroshi the business, and although Kunio is skeptical, he is still angry and decides to meet Riki in Shinjuku to confirm this. Riki is spending time with his girlfriend Kyōko and when confronted by Kunio, agrees to settle the matter in Ikebukuro, claiming he had nothing to do with the attack on Hiroshi. The two meet again in a vacant lot there and are ambushed by Ginjishi and the treacherous Wataru and Sakata, who have turned on Riki to join the Kanto Lion Alliance with Ginjishi. Kunio and Riki defeat the three and, aware of the threat that the alliance poses, agree to join forces. Riki can travel together with Kunio as an ally controlled by CPU. He starts the game with the Mach Punch and as he levels up, gains additional moves. On a second run of the game using clear save data, speaking to his girlfriend allows Kunio to switch with Riki. Although the player can control Riki, they cannot teach him any moves purchased in the game's shops, but they can equip him with any of the game's special items. River City: Knights of Justice In this game, Riki plays the role of Ricky Break. He is searching for Cooney (Kunio's character) to fight him. When defeated, Cooney can kill or spare him. If the former, Ricky never appears in the game again. If spared, he will join Cooney as his ally. However, at a crucial moment during the game, Ricky will turn on Cooney and the player will have no choice but to kill him. Although Riki was Kunio's enemy in the original Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun and Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu, this is the only game in the franchise where Riki is a villain from the beginning to the endSpoilers for Knights of Justice (Japanese). River City Super Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~ Downtown Nekketsu Jidaigeki River City: Rival Showdown River City Melee: Battle Royal Special River City Ransom: Underground River City Girls River City Girls takes place in River City, but uses characters from the Kunio-kun franchise. The game is a spin-off and is not part of the continuity that started with Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Special. Kunio's rival, closest friend and Kyoko's boyfriend. Much calmer and stoic than Kunio, he lets his legendary stone fists do the talking. Kaiji Tang voices him in the game. In the game's opening intro and in the first cutscene once players begin the game, it is revealed that Riki has been kidnapped along with Kunio. His girlfriend Kyoko and her best friend Misako, Kunio's girlfriend, run around River City beating up local thugs and searching for clues to rescue them. Misako and Kyoko eventually reach Sanwakai Tower and defeat Sabuko, kicking her out the window of the tower's top floor. Misako and Kyoko crash into the bath house and lose track of Sabuko. While trying to find her, they stumble on Kunio and Riki taking a bath in the sauna. Upon being discovered and scolded, Kunio and Riki proceed to ignore Misako and Kyoko, with Kunio referring to them as "those crazy girls" and Riki not even knowing what their names are. Riki just wants to get out of there, while Kunio wonders what Hasebe and Mami are doing for the night. This leads Misako and Kyoko to uppercut them through the broken roof of the sauna into the stratosphere. Unlocking the newer 1.1 secret ending via the appropriate tasks instead allows Kyoko and Misako to defeat Hasebe and Mami and upon crashing into the bath house, encounter the boys once more. This time, Riki and Kunio have no apparent feelings towards Hasebe and Mami and instead offer to take Kyoko and Misako out on a burger date. Both are still offended at the idea of having been kidnapped. Once the game is completed once, Kunio and Riki are unlocked for use in the save file where the game was completed. Both start at level 1 and need to learn all of their moves, just like Misako and Kyoko. The game, however, does not change story-wise and acts as if they are not present in the fighting. In this game, Riki has a calm and stoic personality, similar to the one he displays in the Ore wa Otoko Da! Kunio Kun manga, where he was cool and collected to contrast the immature and childish Kunio. River City Melee Mach!! Other Media Appearances Ore wa Otoko Da! Kunio Kun Live-action series Localized versions * In Renegade, Riki was changed to a character named Jack, who bears a resemblance to Luther from the seventies film The Warriors. * In the NES version of Super Dodge Ball, he is also known as Jack, a captain of Team Pro All-Star. * In River City Ransom, Riki was renamed Ryan. * In Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge, Riki was renamed Crusher (shortened to Crush in-game), a member of Team Thornley, who replaces the character named Raphael in the original game. * In River City Ransom: Underground, Ryan's full name is shown as Ryan Samejima in the school's year book on the file select screen. Trivia * His nickname is "Mach Punch Riki". The inspiration for the Mach Punch comes from the Speed Racer manga (which was known as Mach GoGoGo in Japan). Animating the Mach Punch in the original arcade game (when Riki grabs Kunio and punches him) reminded Kishimoto of the Mach GoGoGo animeKishimoto on the Mach series of attacks (Japanese). * According to Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Riki's name originates from a notorious yakuza in his youth. * Riki has had at least two confirmed girlfriends in the games: Mami in Downtown Nekketsu series, and Kyoko in Kunio-tachi no Banka. * The character Kazuma Kuwabara from the anime Yu Yu Hakusho bears a close resemblance to him due to his Pompadour hairstyle and his uniform color. * In Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, Riki's surname was Hibari. Samejima was introduced as his surname in Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari. However, according to Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Riki is simply named RikiKishimoto on Riki's surname (Japanese), just like the rest of the characters that debuted in Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun (Wataru is one exception). It is unknown if Riki is his surname or given name. * Kunio's catchphrase, "Namen'nayo!" (なめんなよ!, roughly translates to "Don't mess with me!"), originated from Riki in the original arcade game as well as in the Famicom version. He originally said "Namen'nayo kono yarou!" (なめんなよ この やろう!, roughly translates to "Don't mess with me, punk!"). * Riki shares many traits with Kunio, such as his roughed up appearance and his deep sense of honor. Unlike his rival, however, he has a more serious, quiet and down-to-business personality, as noticed in Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka where he's the character that speaks the least. Gallery File:1508020909754.png|Sprite from Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari File:Shodai_Riki.jpg|Sprite from Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun File:1508021038341.png|Sprite from Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka File:Riki.jpg|Official art from Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari EX File:Dnm_rikimami.png|'Riki' rescues Mami in Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari File:Kuniobrh_riki.png|'Riki' in Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Bangai Rantō Hen File:Jidaigeki_nes_rikigorou.png|Riki's appearance in the historical drama as Rikigorō References es:Riki Category:Characters Category:Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Category:Shodai Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun Category:Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka Category:Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari Category:Shin Nekketsu Koha Kunio Kun Special Category:Hanazono High School Category:River City Category:Bosses Category:Playable Characters